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Crux Investor

An insight into junior mining and opportunities to invest.

Company Interviews, a Crux Investor show, exists to cut through the jargon, bias and bluster.

Matthew Gordon, and guest host Merlin Marr-Johnson hone in on the important factors that indicate a company's strong footing for growth and success.

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Yesterday · 20 min
Group Eleven Resources (TSXV:ZNG) - Ballywire Germanium Grades Jump on New Assays
Interview with Bart Jaworski, CEO of Group Eleven Resources Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/group-eleven-resources-tsxvzng-new-high-grade-lead-zinc-discovery-at-stonepark-11079 Recording date: 17th September 2026 Group Eleven Resources (TSXV:ZNG) has added a fresh dimension to its Ballywire discovery in Ireland: materially higher germanium grades, confirmed through a more accurate assay method. The company re-analysed 220 previously submitted samples from five drill holes, switching from lithium borate fusion to sodium peroxide fusion - a technique that better retains germanium during sample digestion. The result was a 68% average increase in reported germanium grades across the re-tested samples, with the strongest individual interval reaching 94 g/t Ge, well above typical grades of 20-40 g/t seen across the batch. This matters because germanium is not an incidental addition. CEO Bart Jaworski explained that the metal tracks closely with sphalerite, the zinc-bearing mineral already central to Ballywire's zinc-lead-silver-copper discovery: "Whenever we see high zinc numbers, we tend to have the highest germanium numbers along with it." In practice, this means Group Eleven is capturing a scarce, high-value byproduct metal within intervals it would already be reporting for zinc, lead, silver and copper - without additional exploration cost. The timing is notable. Germanium, used in AI infrastructure and fibre optics, trades at roughly US$200 per ounce outside China, up about 25% over the past year, as Chinese export restrictions imposed in 2023 continue to limit Western supply. Very little of the world's germanium comes from dedicated mines; it is recovered almost entirely as a byproduct of a small number of zinc smelters, making new supply additions structurally scarce. Jaworski described the dynamic bluntly: "There's not enough in the Western world coming that we need to backfill for China." Operationally, Group Eleven remains well-funded. A C$12 million financing closed in March 2026 is supporting a 67,000-metre drill campaign for 2026, with four rigs currently active at Ballywire and roughly 15 additional holes in the pipeline. A further 110 samples from those 15 holes are still to be reassayed for germanium, suggesting more grade revisions could follow. Ballywire itself remains substantially untested: of four gravity anomalies spanning a 6-kilometre trend, drilling to date has concentrated almost entirely on one. Investors should treat today's news as an enhancement to an existing thesis rather than a new one. The core investment case at Group Eleven still rests on the scale and grade of the underlying zinc-lead-silver-copper system at Ballywire, and on the path toward a maiden resource estimate. Germanium adds a genuine, if still unquantified, economic sweetener - genuine because the metal is present in meaningful, high-grade concentrations; unquantified because metallurgical test work establishing recoveries and payability has not yet been carried out for any metal at Ballywire, germanium included. With a small, tightly balanced global germanium market, a discovery of this scale could carry a strategic premium once those metallurgical questions are answered - but that remains a forward catalyst rather than a settled fact today.
Yesterday · 43 min
Mogotes Metals (TSXV:MOG) - District-Scale Explorer Triples Drilling to 20,000m Through 2027
Interview with Allen Sabet, CEO of Mogotes Metals Inc. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/mogotes-metals-tsxvmog-major-copper-gold-discovery-at-filo-sur-10342 Recording date: 16th September 2026 Mogotes Metals closed out its first full drilling season at the Filo Sur project with two discoveries in hand and a validating investment from one of the world's largest mining companies. The Vicuña district straddling Argentina and Chile has drawn intense attention since Lundin Mining and BHP's Filo del Sol discovery redefined the region's prospectivity, and Mogotes' ground sits immediately along strike from that deposit and its structural corridor. The season's headline result came from Albor, where a drill hole eturned 180 metres at 0.98% copper equivalent from 108 metres depth, including a higher-grade core of 58 metres at 1.77% CuEq, the strongest single intercept drilled at Filo Sur to date. A second discovery at Cruz del Sur, roughly four kilometres to the south, returned two broad intervals exceeding 300 metres each at lower but still meaningful grades, with mineralisation open in every direction. Both discoveries sit on the Macho Muerto Fault Zone, a 10-kilometre structure that CEO Allen Sabet describes as the project's primary control on mineralisation, and one that remains mostly untested. Two further targets, Luz del Sol and Cuenca, were advanced this season through shallow drilling and channel sampling rather than full discovery-grade intercepts. Both returned encouraging but sub-economic results directly above geophysical anomalies interpreted as porphyry vectors, positioning them as first-pass drill targets in the coming season. A fifth target, Meseta, remains entirely untested after difficult ground conditions forced its deferral. The more significant near-term development for investors may be corporate rather than geological. On August 2026, Mogotes closed a US$15 million strategic investment from Rio Tinto Canada Inc., pricing the placement at a 50–70% premium to where shares had been trading. The deal establishes a Strategic & Technical Alliance giving Mogotes access to Rio Tinto's geoscience capability, while granting Rio Tinto a 15-month exclusivity period over any project-level transaction at Filo Sur, a right to match competing proposals, and a top-up right to 9.99% ownership. Sabet was careful to note that Mogotes retains full discretion over its own technical and drilling decisions, and remains free to pursue corporate-level transactions, bringing in new investors or fielding a takeover approach, despite the project-level exclusivity. That exclusivity period effectively sets the clock on a defined catalyst window: Rio Tinto will be watching the outcome of the 2026–2027 drill season, planned at up to 20,000 metres and more than triple this season's total, to decide whether to pursue a larger transaction. The company's roughly C$75 million treasury funds that programme, along with parallel option projects: Montana's Copper Cliff (a Rio Tinto-optioned porphyry system, earn-in to 51% for US$16 million) and Kazakhstan's Beskauga deposit (a multi-million-ounce gold-copper deposit with drill results due within weeks). For investors, the combination of an expanded, better-funded exploration programme and a defined major-investor decision point makes the next 12 to 15 months a genuine inflection period for the stock with the usual caveat that porphyry-district promise still has to be converted into defined, continuous tonnage. View Mogotes Metals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/mogotes-metals Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Yesterday · 24 min
Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE) - Financing Locked In, Waroona Build Begins
Interview with Adam Kiley, CEO, Frontier Energy Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/frontier-energy-asxfhe-federal-backing-transforms-outlook-for-wa-renewables-developer-6941 Recording date: 15th September 2026 Frontier Energy Limited (ASX:FHE) has reached the stage that most renewable energy developers never do: fully funded, fully contracted, and building. Stage One of its Waroona Renewable Energy Project in Western Australia comprises 132MW of solar generation and an 81.5MW, 6.9-hour battery storage system, at a total capital cost of A$310 million plus A$22 million contingency. A A$110 million equity raise has lifted institutional ownership on the register to around 30%, while Natixis CIB and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have signed an underwriting letter for up to A$280 million in credit-approved debt facilities. Financial close is targeted for October or November 2026, with first debt drawdown in the first quarter of 2027. The project's risk profile is unusually contained for its stage. Frontier used a free-issue contracting model, buying equipment directly from tier-one suppliers - LONGi, Trina, SMA, Nextracker - on fixed-price terms and supplying it to EPC contractor Monford, insulating the budget from input cost inflation. Long-lead items were ordered up to 12 months in advance, and a structured early-works process with the EPC surfaced scope gaps before financial close rather than during construction. Site mobilisation began in mid-September 2026, with peak construction workforce (around 200 people) expected from January 2027 and first revenue generation targeted for 2028. Revenue certainty is the other pillar of the investment case. Independent forecaster Aurora, engaged by the project's lenders, models average annual revenue of A$72.5 million over the first five years, of which A$32 million comes from fixed-price Reserve Capacity payments locked until 2032. The project has also been selected for the federal Capacity Investment Scheme, which - alongside Reserve Capacity - extends a revenue floor through to 2042, sharing 50% of any upside above an agreed ceiling with government. Against $10 million of forecast opex, that produces average EBITDA of A$62.5 million (an 86% margin), a post-tax IRR of approximately 20%, and average free cash flow of roughly A$35 million annually after debt servicing and tax in the first five years. Beyond Stage One, Frontier holds 830 hectares of freehold land in total and has development approval already in place for a similarly sized Stage Two (~130MW solar / ~80MW BESS), connected to Western Australia's largest 330kV transmission corridor. The state faces a structural supply gap - the market operator forecasts an additional 11.5 TWh of generation needed by 2031, rising to 18.3 TWh by 2036, as coal and gas capacity retires - compounded by fast-growing data centre demand, for which Frontier's uncommitted Stage One output and expandable substation design offer optionality. The key near-term catalysts are financial close on the debt package and execution of the CIS contract, both expected within weeks of the September 2026 interview. Longer term, the size of the opportunity depends on how quickly management can replicate Stage One's fixed-price, government-backed model for Stage Two and beyond. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/frontier-energy Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Tuesday · 32 min
1911 Gold (TSXV:AUMB) - Manitoba's True North Gold Project Restart Targets 2027 Production Decision
Interview with Shaun Heinrichs, President and CEO of 1911 Gold Recording date: 11th September 2026 1911 Gold Corporation (TSXV:AUMB) is working to restart the fully permitted True North Gold Project in Manitoba's Rice Lake Greenstone Belt, a mine and mill complex that has produced roughly 2.0 million ounces since the 1930s but has sat idle since 2015. President and CEO Shaun Heinrichs took over in mid-2022 and rebuilt both the technical team and the underlying resource before committing to a restart plan, bringing in Vice President of Exploration Michele Della Libera and Lions Gate Geological Consulting to independently re-estimate the deposit. The result, a 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate of 499,000 ounces indicated and 644,000 ounces inferred, underpins a 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment that models a post-tax NPV5% of $391 million, an IRR of 105% and a 2.2 year payback at a base case gold price of US$3,000/oz. Rather than restart at full scale immediately, the company is running test mining across two zones, the Level 16 shaft mine and the Hinge ramp mine, using smaller equipment and narrower development than the project's previous operators, targeting 15% dilution against a history that saw dilution as high as 25% up to 80-100% under an earlier operators. Management frames this as the key operational lesson from True North's difficult past: equipment sizing, delineation drilling and mining method discipline, not resource quality, were what previously constrained the project. On the PEA's schedule, production ramps from roughly 26,000 ounces in the first partial year to a steady-state run rate near 58,000 ounces annually by 2029, at all-in sustaining costs of $1,897/oz. The remaining capital need, largely a new crushing circuit due for delivery through October 2026, is being funded through a $30 million credit facility with Auramet International, of which the first $15 million tranche was drawn in March 2026. Management's near-term financial priority is refinancing that facility ahead of its April 2027 amortisation start, which would otherwise coincide with the early stages of the production ramp. Beyond True North itself, 1911 Gold controls the entire 90 km Rice Lake Greenstone Belt land package, positioning the company for a hub-and-spoke growth model built around the existing, expandable mill. September 2026 drilling confirmed a high-grade structural link between the L10 zone and the larger 710-711 zone, and the company's 2026 inferred resource update for the Ogama-Rockland deposit, 45 km away, now stands at 712,000 ounces at 6.68 g/t Au. Both feed into a global resource update due in the fourth quarter of 2026. Importantly, a formal decision to commit to full-scale production has not yet been made; that decision is targeted for 2027, pending the results of 2026 trial mining and bulk sample processing. Investors should treat the current activity as a proof-of-concept phase for the operating model management intends to scale, rather than confirmation that production is already underway at design capacity. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/1911-gold Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Monday · 31 min
Why Short-Term Macro Noise Won't Derail the Commodities Supercycle
Recording date: 11th September 2026 Olive Resource Capital Inc. (TSXV:OC), represented on this Compass episode by Executive Chairman Derek Macpherson and President, CEO & CIO Samuel Pelaez, used the post-CPI window to lay out both its near-term macro read and its underlying investment process. On the macro side, the September CPI print came in at 3.4%, above the Fed's target band but in line with consensus, prompting a muted market reaction. With the Federal Reserve's next meeting imminent and roughly 60% odds of a hike priced in, both executives argued that current inflation, driven substantially by diesel prices tied to disruption around the conflict in Iran, is largely a supply-side phenomenon the Fed has limited tools to address directly. They are watching the US Dollar Index closely, currently at a key support level, as their preferred read on where commodity prices head next: a breakdown lower would support the bullish commodities case, while a technical bounce, potentially reinforced by a rate hike, would be a near-term headwind. The approaching US midterm elections add a second layer of expected volatility. Macpherson described a "midterm election vortex" of conflicting political headlines, citing a proposed household payment tied to Congressional control and a same-week reversal on copper tariff policy that briefly moved copper prices roughly 5%, as the kind of noise investors should expect through November without necessarily reflecting a change in underlying fundamentals. Despite the noise, both executives stressed their long-term thesis is unchanged: persistent fiscal deficits are debasing fiat currency over time, a dynamic reinforced by comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, layered on top of two decades of underinvestment in resource discovery that has left supply structurally short of demand. They frame Olive's closed-end structure, free of redemption pressure, as a structural advantage that lets the firm buy into weakness rather than being forced to sell. On process, Pelaez detailed the firm's portfolio construction discipline: every one to two months, the pair review every position in the portfolio, testing whether each investment thesis still holds and whether capital would be better deployed elsewhere. Position sizing scales with conviction and risk, from roughly 1-2% in binary, early-stage exploration bets up to 5-10% in high-conviction names, with the top ten holdings collectively targeted at more than half of total portfolio assets. The clearest working example offered was CANEX Metals Inc. (TSXV:CANX), where Olive built its position from an initial 6-to-9-cent entry around the early-stage consolidation of the Gold Basin district into CANEX's Gold Range project, adding in the open market as the story progressed and continuing to participate in financings, most recently at 35 cents, even after a five- to six-times return on the original stake. Recent portfolio exits have freed capital that management is now redeploying into new positions. Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Monday · 23 min
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) - Scoping Study Cuts High-Purity Alumina Capital Costs
Interview with Dr. Mike Jones, MD of Impact Minerals Ltd. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/impact-minerals-asxipt-advancing-scoping-study-with-10x-throughput-breakthrough-in-hand-10564 Recording date: 11th September 2026 Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has spent the past three years repositioning from a conventional Australian exploration company into a twin-pathway high-purity alumina (HPA) developer, and the scoping study for Alluminous, the company's 50%-owned chemical-process technology in which it holds its stake alongside two US-based institutional co-investors, is the first independent test of the economics behind that pivot. The study, prepared by NewPro Consulting & Engineering Services, compared four development cases across Perth and the Houston area. Impact's preferred pathway stages a US Gulf Coast plant from 2,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) up to 4,000 tpa as customer qualification, offtake and funding mature, rather than committing to full capacity immediately. The case models a post-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of A$518 million ($362.4 million), a 42.3% IRR, and a capital payback of roughly 3.8 years, on total installed capital of $74 million. Net operating costs, after crediting a saleable ammonium sulphate by-product, come in just under $9,000 per tonne. Management's central claim is capital efficiency: it puts listed peers Alpha HPA and Advanced Energy Minerals at roughly four to five times Alluminous's capital intensity per tonne of installed capacity, while operating costs remain broadly comparable. Alluminous sits alongside Lake Hope, Impact's 80%-owned flagship Western Australian project, which uses a different, natural lake-sediment feedstock and completed its own Pre-Feasibility Study in June 2025 - a standalone A$1.2 billion NPV case at a 10% discount rate with a 47.5% IRR. The two projects are run and owned independently, use different feedstocks and produce different by-products (Lake Hope yields sulphate of potash; Alluminous yields ammonium sulphate), but both compete for the same downstream battery, semiconductor and sapphire-glass markets. Lake Hope's naturally low uranium and thorium content - independently confirmed below 1 part per billion without a dedicated removal step - is pitched as a specific advantage for semiconductor-grade qualification, a hurdle competitors have typically had to engineer around. Both projects remain genuinely early-stage. The Alluminous scoping study carries a wide +50%/-30% cost accuracy band typical of FEL-0 order-of-magnitude estimates, and the study's authors note they relied on Alluminous-supplied data without independently verifying the underlying technology. The integrated process has not been demonstrated continuously at scale, batch testing has produced filtration challenges, and no binding customer offtake or project debt exists for either pathway - the model assumes 100% equity funding throughout. Near-term catalysts include converting the Perth pilot plant to continuous operation, further validation work with battery-technology partner C4V, a formal Texas Gulf Coast site-selection study, and the start of Lake Hope's own Definitive Feasibility Study in 2027. Impact closed a A$4.13 million entitlement offer on September 9th 2026, underscoring that further capital will likely be required as both projects advance toward construction decisions. View Impact Minerals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/impact-minerals Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Monday · 41 min
Emperor Metals (CSE:AUOZ) - AI-Driven Modelling Doubles Gold Resource in Quebec
Interview with John Florek, President & CEO of Emperor Metals Recording date: 11th September 2026 Emperor Metals is a Canadian gold exploration company advancing two projects in Quebec's Abitibi Greenstone Belt, one of the world's most prolific gold-producing districts with roughly 200 million ounces produced historically. The company's flagship asset, Duquesne West, sits on the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone, a structure credited with over 110 million ounces of historical production, and neighbours active and past-producing mines operated by Agnico Eagle, IAMGOLD and others. In July 2025, Duquesne West received a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate of 26.9 million tonnes at 1.69 grams per tonne gold, for 1.46 million ounces, based on a $2,300 per ounce gold price assumption. That resource is roughly double the 727,000 ounce historical estimate that predated Emperor's 2022 takeover as operator. Management, led by President and CEO John Florek, a geologist with 35 years of experience including senior roles at BHP, Placer Dome, Barrick, Teck and Detour Lake Gold attributes the growth partly to an AI-assisted geological modelling process that identified a large-scale, lower-grade open-pit envelope surrounding higher-grade underground lenses that earlier operators had not recognised since the deposit was first discovered in the 1940s. The company describes the resource as substantially under-drilled: approximately 140,000 metres of drilling have been completed to date, which management estimates at 15-20% of what comparable projects required to reach similar ounce totals. A 15,000 metre drill program and an 8,000 metre historical core re-sampling campaign - aimed at converting inferred ounces to indicated via duplicate drilling of older holes - are currently under way, funded through the end of 2026. Management has signalled an intent to pursue a further 30,000-50,000 metre program from around October 2026, subject to financing, ahead of an eventual preliminary economic assessment once the resource passes roughly 2 million ounces. Emperor's secondary asset, Lac Pelletier, sits approximately 30 kilometres south and offers a different risk profile: a historical resource of 227,000 ounces at 3.9 grams per tonne gold, permits valid for production until 2030, and roughly C$70 million of prior infrastructure investment including more than 3.3 kilometres of underground development. Two historical bulk samples averaged 96.3% gold recovery. Management's near-term plan is to update the historical feasibility study and evaluate a production decision, rather than to advance immediately to construction. As of June 2026, Emperor had 194,850,005 shares outstanding (242,289,794 fully diluted) and an estimated C$5.4 million in working capital. Strategic investors Rob McEwen (7%) and Rick Rule are on the share register. On a company comparable basis, Emperor traded at approximately C$39 million market capitalisation, or C$25.28 per ounce of resource. Both the Duquesne West and Lac Pelletier resource figures carry standard caveats: inferred resources and historical estimates do not have demonstrated economic viability and are not current mineral reserves. Neither project has reached a construction or production decision. Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.com Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Monday · 14 min
Cabral Gold (TSXV:CBR) - First Gold Pour in Cuiú Cuiú Beats Expectations
Interview with Alan Carter, President & CEO of Cabral Gold Inc. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/cabral-gold-tsxvcbr-operating-licence-secured-first-gold-targeted-by-september-11515 Recording date: 11th September 2026 Cabral Gold has crossed the line from developer to producer, confirming the first gold pour at its Phase 1 Cuiú Cuiú heap leach operation in Pará state, Brazil. The pour, approximately 1,130 ounces of doré assaying 93-94% gold, came in well above management's internal expectations, and arrives with construction running roughly two months ahead of schedule. For a company that only secured project financing twelve months ago, the milestone represents a rapid and largely self-executed build. The near-term operational story is about ramp-up discipline. The dry circuit is fully commissioned; the wet circuit, covering leaching and gold recovery, is expected to follow within days. Stacking rates are being increased in stages toward a 3,000 tonne-per-day design target, monitored through a control room tracking belt speeds and throughput. Management has been explicit that no 2026 production guidance will be issued while ramp-up variables remain unresolved, but formal 2027 guidance is expected, potentially as early as January, giving investors a concrete date to watch. The cash flow case, while based on a study CEO Alan Carter himself flagged as roughly eighteen months old, is notable: first-year production of 20,000 to 25,000 ounces at an estimated margin near $3,300 an ounce implies pre-tax cash flow in the order of $80 million before any expansion. Carter framed this against typical gold producer valuation multiples of six to twelve times cash flow, arguing the operation could support meaningful re-rating once production stabilises. Strategically, the more interesting thread is how Cabral intends to fund its next phase of growth. A recent $45 million strategic investment from Alpayana, described as Peru's largest private mining company, gave Cabral a 9.99% shareholder and, combined with Phase 1 cash flow, is intended to reduce the company's reliance on annual dilutive equity raises, a pattern Carter was candid about wanting to avoid. The larger opportunity sits underground. Approximately 75% of the district's known gold ounces are hosted in hard rock beneath the oxide material Cabral is currently mining. A district-wide resource update due by year-end will model six gold deposits, up from three in the last global estimate from September 2022, incorporating roughly 50,000 metres of drilling completed since. Management is also sitting on some 50 untested peripheral targets, including boulder fields averaging 90 grams per tonne gold across ten to twelve targets. A meaningful increase in the resource base would support a formal Preliminary Economic Assessment on the hard rock opportunity, positioning 2027 as a pivotal year for both production guidance and district-scale resource definition. For investors, the near-term watch list is straightforward: confirmation of the refinery assay on the first doré bars, completion of wet-circuit commissioning, and progression of stacking rates toward design capacity. Further out, the year-end resource update and the timing of a Phase 2 PEA decision will determine whether Cuiú Cuiú's story broadens from a single oxide starter operation into a genuine two-stage gold district. View Cabral Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/cabral-gold Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
Monday · 37 min
South Star Battery Metals (TSXV:STS) - Graphite Output Restart and Fully-Funded Expansion in Brazil
Interview with Tiago Cunha, Director & CEO of South Star Battery Metals Recording date: 11th September 2026 South Star Battery Metals Corp (TSXV:STS) is a rare example in the junior mining space of a genuine operational turnaround delivering measurable results within a single year. The company's Santa Cruz graphite operation in Bahia, Brazil came close to bankruptcy in October 2025, with insufficient funds to meet payroll. CEO Tiago Cunha, then a board member and investor, stepped in, personally funding two payroll cycles before a capital raise closed in December 2025. He describes replacing effectively the entire workforce and management team, citing prior contracting misconduct and kickbacks, and crediting the new operational team led by COO Rogério Barcellos with proving the underlying asset was never the constraint. Since the turnaround began, management reports a 60% reduction in cash operating costs, driven by straightforward fixes: renegotiating electricity from retail to wholesale rates (a 35% cut in power costs within 30 days) and changing filter-press mesh size to eliminate near-daily equipment failures. Current operating costs are reported below $800 per tonne of concentrate. Production restarted in 2026, reportedly around three months ahead of an original July target, with the company targeting 5,000 tonnes per year of capacity by year-end and cumulative 2026 throughput of roughly 1,847 tonnes. Two distinct expansion paths are on the table. The first to 10,000 tonnes per year is described as low-capex (under $1 million) and fully financed, since the plant's off-the-shelf equipment already has spare capacity and the only bottleneck is a second filter press. The second, a larger expansion toward 25,000, to potentially 50,000 tonnes per year, is being discussed with the Brazilian Development Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation, but rests on a 2022-vintage feasibility study that Cunha himself says is no longer reliable, given subsequent changes to the processing flowsheet. Commercially, South Star reports a flake-to-fines split of roughly 70/30, ahead of original design, with flotation grades of 93-97% Cg and 99.95% Cg purity validated downstream. Sales are spread across multiple US buyers, with additional niche markets - such as agricultural graphite at a substantial premium to commodity pricing - cited as a way to avoid dependence on any single customer. Cunha frames the sector's core risk as Chinese pricing behaviour rather than product-specific competition, noting the absence, so far, of any floor-pricing mechanism for graphite comparable to those emerging in rare earths. With CEO ownership of roughly 40%, funded through the company's near-collapse, and graphite's growing framing as a supply-chain security issue for Western defence and industrial policy, South Star presents a relatively de-risked near-term production story layered with a larger, currently unquantified expansion option. View South Stat Battery Metals company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/south-star-battery-metals Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 11 · 34 min
ATHA Energy (TSXV:SASK) - RIB North Breakthrough Confirms Continuity, Q4 Catalysts Underway
Interview with Troy Boisjoli, CEO of ATHA Energy Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/atha-energy-tsxvsask-district-scale-uranium-play-builds-momentum-with-dual-discoveries-11012 Recording date: 8th September 2026 ATHA Energy Corp. (TSXV:SASK) is a Canadian uranium explorer built around a strategy of maximising exposure to the country's best uranium jurisdictions before committing capital to resource definition. Founded three years ago, the company grew from an initial 3.5-million-acre position in the Athabasca Basin to a seven-million-acre portfolio spanning the Athabasca Basin (Saskatchewan), the Angikuni Basin (Nunavut) and the Central Mineral Belt (Labrador), while retaining a 10% carried interest in Athabasca Basin projects operated by NexGen Energy and IsoEnergy. The company's flagship is the 100%-owned Angilak Uranium Project in Nunavut, which hosts two parallel value drivers: the Lac 50 Deposit Corridor, carrying an existing exploration target of 61 to 98 million pounds U3O8, and the Mineralized RIB Corridor, where 2025 drilling produced four new discoveries including RIB North. ATHA reported results from seven additional RIB North drillholes, extending confirmed mineralisation continuity from 300 metres to 1.45 kilometres along the corridor's eastern limb. The standout intersection returned 20.0 metres of composite uranium mineralisation across fifteen zones, including 1.3 metres of high-grade material defined by the company as exceeding 10,000 counts per second on its downhole gamma probe. A separate horizon on the western limb was extended to approximately 220 metres of strike via follow-up drilling. None of this work has yet been converted into a formal resource estimate, and the corridor remains open in every direction. CEO Troy Boisjoli, a former Cameco chief geologist who led the Rook I project through to feasibility, framed the results as evidence of a deliberate, staged strategy: address discovery risk first through widely spaced regional drilling, then prove continuity, then move into delineation. He argues this sequencing, rather than rushing toward a resource statement, is what reduces execution risk for a company at ATHA's stage. VP Exploration Cliff Revering, previously a senior resource geologist at Cameco and chief geologist at Cigar Lake during its production ramp-up, leads the technical program alongside him. Management's emerging geological thesis is one of the more distinctive elements of the story. Rather than a conventional Athabasca Basin-style unconformity system, ATHA believes Angilak's basement-hosted, structurally controlled mineralisation behaves more like an orogenic gold system, with graphitic and sulphide-bearing structures making conductive geology itself prospective, rather than a background feature unrelated to mineralisation. If the model holds up against 3D geophysical inversion results due across the full Angikuni Basin in Q4 2026, management believes it could support drill targets across a structural trend extending tens of kilometres, well beyond the roughly 1.45 kilometres tested to date. The company enters that catalyst window well capitalised, having raised $63 million in Q1 2026, including a $25 million US investment from Queen's Road Capital, funding a three-rig, roughly 20,000-metre program running through the end of September 2026. Investors could weigh the scale of the opportunity management describes against the fact that no resource has yet been defined at either RIB North or the broader corridor, and that the company itself says it cannot currently quantify the eventual size of the system. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/atha-energy Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 11 · 21 min
Power Metallic (TSXV:PNPN) - Defines High-Grade 4.7 Million Tonne Lion Maiden Resource in Quebec
Interview with Terry Lynch, CEO, Power Metallic Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/power-metallic-tsxvpnpn-undervalued-investment-series-with-terry-lynch-9869 Recording date: 9th September 2026 Power Metallic's September 8 release of an inaugural Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Lion Zone gives investors their first NI 43-101-compliant number for a deposit that has been the market's main reason to own the stock since 2023. The headline: 4.145 million tonnes Indicated at 3.86% CuEq and 0.601 million tonnes Inferred at 4.01% CuEq, for a combined 4.75 million tonnes at roughly 3.9% CuEq. First, classification: more than 85% of the maiden resource sits in the Indicated category, materially de-risking conversion to reserve relative to a typical maiden estimate, which more often skews Inferred. Second, geometry: the deposit starts at surface and roughly 59% of tonnes sit within an open-pit shell, which analysts cited by CEO Terry Lynch believe could be built for under $200 million with payback inside a year, an unusually capital-light profile for a project of this grade. Third, metallurgy: locked-cycle testing has already returned copper recoveries above 98% and a concentrate grading more than 25% Cu, reducing processing-route uncertainty that often lingers for years on polymetallic deposits. Nickel recoveries at the adjacent Nisk Main deposit remain a modest 70% in the current MRE, with a co-mingled processing test aimed at lifting that toward 80% still pending results. And the company's Nasdaq ADR ambitions add a near-term financing event which the management has flagged a required $15 million raise tied to the planned late-October to early-November listing. Step-out drilling beneath the Lion zone has already pushed mineralisation from roughly 600 metres to more than 900 metres vertical depth, and assay results from that programme are due by the end of September. Management frames the maiden resource represents a floor established by drill-verified data rather than a ceiling on the deposit's ultimate size and will be tested directly by those results and by additional step-outs planned through November, which the company expects will add a further 35,000-40,000 metres of drilling to the resource base ahead of the PEA. Longer term, the investment case rests partly on a district thesis drawing comparisons to Norilsk-style orthomagmatic camps, where mineralisation typically occurs as multiple deposits spread across a wider land package rather than a single ore body, a thesis management says is supported by having explored only 2-3% of its ~330 km² land position as exploration upside. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/power-metallic Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 10 · 38 min
Rainbow Rare Earths (LSE:RBW) - 'Undervalued?' Investment series, with George Bennett
Interview with George Bennett, CEO of Rainbow Rare Earths Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/rainbow-rare-earths-lserbw-us-govt-backed-miner-targets-2027-production-from-waste-processing-8115 Recording date: 9th September 2026 Rainbow Rare Earths (LSE:RBW) is pursuing a structurally different route into rare earth supply than most of its peers. Rather than mining hard rock, the company reclaims rare earths from phosphogypsum - the waste residue generated when phosphate rock is processed into phosphoric acid for the fertiliser industry. Because the rare earth content in phosphate rock is too low to mine economically on its own, it has historically been discarded in gypsum waste stacks; Rainbow's proprietary process recovers it from that existing above-ground resource using leaching and ion exchange, avoiding the drilling, crushing and milling costs that dominate capital spending on conventional rare earth projects. The company is advancing two projects built on this model. Phalaborwa, in South Africa, is the more advanced of the two, currently 75% through its definitive feasibility study, with a post-tax IRR estimated at 38% using December 2024 spot pricing (rising to a CEO-cited 40-45% at more recent pricing), an EBITDA margin of 70-75%, and capital costs of circa $325-350 million. Rainbow currently owns 85% of Phalaborwa, with an option to move to 100% next year. Uberaba, in Brazil, is a joint venture with The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS), in which Rainbow holds 49%. A March 2026 Economic Assessment put Uberaba's post-tax NPV10 at $916 million, IRR at 45%, average annual EBITDA at $217 million over a 30-year mine life, and payback at 1.7 years; a Pre-Feasibility Study for the project formally commenced in September 2026. Management's central argument is that the market has not yet caught up with the combined earnings power of the two projects. CEO George Bennett points to a combined attributable EBITDA estimate of circa $300 million by 2030 - roughly 75% of the EBITDA forecast for Serra Verde, a comparable Brazilian rare earths project that was recently acquired in a deal valuing it at $2.8 billion - against Rainbow's own market capitalisation of circa $250 million. Independent benchmarking cited in the interview supports the cost-position argument: Benchmark Mineral Intelligence reportedly ranks Rainbow among the lowest-cost rare earth producers in the West, while Argus Media ranks it among the highest-margin. The investment case is also supported by third-party validation. TechMet, a critical minerals fund holding circa 12% of Rainbow, brought in the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which has committed $50 million of project equity to Phalaborwa, convertible at Final Investment Decision (expected around Q3 2027). Mosaic, a Fortune 500 fertiliser producer, is Rainbow's partner on Uberaba. Rainbow is also evaluating a U.S. listing, having engaged BMO Capital Markets, partly in response to the disproportionate market cap uplift Mosaic received relative to Rainbow when their joint venture was announced. Remaining funding gaps are relatively modest against committed capacity - circa $70 million at Phalaborwa and circa $50 million at Uberaba - and near-term catalysts include binding offtake term sheets and a solvent extraction technology partner selection, both expected before the end of 2026. Investors should note both projects remain pre-FID, with first production not expected until 2029 (Phalaborwa) and 2030 (Uberaba), and that some reported capital cost figures for Uberaba have varied pending finalised feasibility numbers. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/rainbow-rare-earths Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 9 · 21 min
Eastport Critical Metals (TSXV:EVI) - Four Critical Metal Projects, One Botswana Portfolio
Interview with Daniel Major, CEO of Eastport Critical Metals Recording date: 8th September 2026 Eastport Critical Metals Corp. (TSXV:EVI) is a Botswana-focused critical minerals explorer with exposure to copper, rare earth elements, uranium, and nickel-copper-PGM across a combined land package exceeding 4,000 km². The company listed on the TSX-V in November 2025 via a qualifying transaction with Penbar Capital and appointed Daniel Major, former CEO of TSXV-listed GoviEx Uranium, as Chief Executive Officer in July 2026. The flagship asset is Matsitama Copper, a 1,845 km² district-scale position across six prospecting licences in an established copper district, sitting adjacent to the historic Kopano (~1% Cu) and Thakadu (~2% Cu) mines and roughly 10 km from the currently producing Moana mine. The project carries a historical - not current, not NI 43-101-compliant - resource estimate at Nakalakwana Hill of 9.9 Mt at 4,640 ppm Cu (45.5 kt contained copper), based on 2013 SRK Consulting work under the superseded SAMREC 2007 code. Drilling through 2025-2026 has extended the mineralised footprint east and west of the original zone, with three recent holes intersecting more than 100 metres of copper mineralisation at internal higher grades of 0.5% to over 1.5% Cu. Twenty priority targets have been defined across the licence, including the roughly 30 km Copper Snake trend, which the company plans to test with gravity and EM surveys in 2026 ahead of drilling. Semarule (250 km², ~40 km from Gaborone) is Eastport's rare earth optionality, hosting a syenite-carbonatite complex with mineralised outcrop across ~15 km². 2023 rock-chip sampling returned 0.5% total rare earth oxides plus yttrium, roughly a quarter of which is higher-value magnetic rare earth oxide. An eight-hole drill program has intersected mineralisation to depths exceeding 300 metres, with a further assay batch pending at the time of the interview. Management has indicated Semarule could be spun into its own listed vehicle if results confirm scale, given rare earth and base metal investors typically seek different exposure. Foley, a uranium project adjacent to the Letlhakane deposit, returned a maiden RC intercept of 8 m at 553 ppm U₃O₈, supporting the company's palaeochannel exploration model. Selebi-East (nickel-copper-PGM, ~7 km east of the historic Selebi-Phikwe complex) shows Ni-Cu-Co soil anomalies over reprocessed geophysical data but remains earlier-stage with limited historic drilling. Insiders hold 21.77% of the 33,490,774 shares outstanding, a level of alignment the company positions as a differentiator. Management's stated strategy is disciplined sequencing - inexpensive geophysics to define targets, RC drilling to confirm grade, and diamond drilling only once a target is proven - rather than funding all four commodities to feasibility within a single vehicle, with spin-outs or partnerships positioned as the likely route for whichever project demonstrates scale first. Near-term catalysts: 2026 gravity/EM results at Matsitama's Copper Snake trend, and the outstanding Semarule assay batch. Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 9 · 16 min
Greenheart Gold (TSXV:GHRT) - 2,000m Drilling Commences at High-Grade Tosso Creek Gold Project
Interview with Justin van der Toorn, President and CEO, Greenheart Gold Inc. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/greenheart-gold-tsxvghrt-multi-asset-drill-program-drives-newsflow-in-2026-9693 Recording date: 3rd September 2026 Greenheart Gold Inc. (TSXV:GHRT; OTCQX:GHRTF) is an exploration company built on the technical legacy of Reunion Gold, the team credited with discovering and delineating the multi-million-ounce Oko West deposit in Guyana. That background shapes the company's current strategy in the Guiana Shield, a gold-prospective but still relatively underexplored terrain spanning Guyana and Suriname: move quickly from geochemical sampling through trenching to drilling, and run several projects in parallel rather than concentrating resources on a single target. Greenheart currently has three active projects in Suriname. Tosso Creek, the subject of this interview, is the newest and most remote, comprising four target areas: Maconia, Swalanga, Walaba and Sevil. A 2,000-metre diamond drilling programme has now commenced at Walaba, following up broad trench intervals including 52.0 m at 0.77 g/t Au and a higher-grade zone of 7.0 m at 4.57 g/t Au. Drilling at the recently identified Swalanga target, roughly 1 km east, is planned to follow; trenching there has already returned 56.0 m at 0.9 g/t Au. CEO Justin van der Toorn described the current drilling as a first test of whether near-surface mineralisation continues at depth, and what structural or lithological controls govern the higher-grade zones observed within the broader mineralised envelope. The company's two more advanced Suriname projects, Igab and Majorodam, sit closer to existing regional operations and require a lower threshold of discovery to justify continued work, according to management. At Igab, a maiden drill programme returned 7.0 m at 5.82 g/t Au at the Koela target, and the company is now integrating those results with core relogging and structural mapping ahead of a planned drill test at the Cannibal Creek target. At Majorodam, a 160-hole, 11,748-metre RC programme is largely complete, though roughly 35% of assay results remain outstanding due to laboratory delays in Paramaribo; a full project review is planned once all results are received. Management cited a cash position of approximately $85 million following the company's recent financing, which it says supports simultaneous drill programmes across all three projects without requiring near-term additional capital. Van der Toorn was explicit that this comes with a discipline requirement: avoiding over-drilling any single project ahead of its stage of geological understanding, and ensuring capital committed to the ground translates directly into results. For investors, the near-term catalysts are concrete and sequential: assay results from the first Tosso Creek holes, the outstanding Majorodam RC results, and the refined targeting expected from Igab's ongoing core relogging and structural work. None of the three projects yet carries a defined mineral resource, and reported intervals are sampling lengths rather than true widths, so the eventual investment case depends on converting today's broad, low-grade trench and drill intercepts into demonstrated depth and grade continuity. Suriname's wet season and reliance on Paramaribo-based assay laboratories are recurring, if manageable, sources of scheduling and reporting delay across all three projects. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/greenheart-gold Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 8 · 21 min
Marimaca Copper (TSX:MARI) - Drilling Results Confirm World-Class Scale at Pampa Medina
Interview with Hayden Locke, CEO, Marimaca Copper Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/marimaca-copper-tsxmari-undervalued-investment-series-with-hayden-locke-11042 Recording date: 7th September 2026 Marimaca Copper's latest drill results from Pampa Medina add meaningfully to a discovery story that has been building since late 2024. The headline intercept, SPRD-15, returned 216 metres at 1.0%+ copper plus 7.2 g/t silver, including a high-grade zone of 62 metres at 2.2% copper with 21.6 grams per tonne silver - a result CEO Hayden Locke described as the company's best yet at Pampa Medina. Multiple step-out holes to the south and west, including SPRD-17, SPRD-12, SMRD-13 and SMRD-22, confirmed continuity of the mineralised system across a broader area, with the company now defining a roughly 3km by 1.5km drill-confirmed footprint and a 1.3km by 1.3km high-grade core. Locke was emphatic that Pampa Medina should be understood as a sediment-hosted copper system rather than a Chilean porphyry, drawing direct comparisons to the Kupferschiefer basin in Poland and Germany and, more pointedly, to the Central African Copperbelt's Kamoa-Kakula deposit - among the most significant copper discoveries of the past several decades. He cited an average grade thickness across the drilling of roughly 70% copper-metres plus around 10 g/t silver, though investors should note this figure sits well above every comparator cited elsewhere in the same interview and would benefit from written confirmation as the maiden resource is finalised. On the structural side, Locke addressed two previously unresolved questions. Post-mineral dikes, while carrying negligible grade, have proven thinner in true thickness than earlier drilling suggested, reducing their expected dilution impact on any future resource. Faulting is better understood on an east-west orientation, with fewer structures expected to complicate a north-south mining approach, though further geotechnical work will be required before any underground decision. Parallel to the exploration story, Marimaca's flagship MOD project is fully permitted and now in its detailed design and engineering phase, and is advancing toward a financing decision. The company has narrowed its lender search to three groups now in final due diligence, after which it will negotiate exclusively with one before moving into legal due diligence and long-form documentation, targeting full construction during 2027. Management describes its financing philosophy as conservative: a modest debt-to-equity ratio, no hedging, and traditional senior secured lending rather than more complex structures. Design work at MOD has already anticipated Pampa Medina's growth, with the project's water pipeline oversized to support up to 100,000 tonnes of cathode production annually - infrastructure that any oxide material from Pampa Medina would piggyback on regardless of eventual scale. The company's larger sulfide opportunity at Pampa Medina remains a longer-dated, unquantified catalyst that management says will not be rushed. With approximately $140 million in cash, separated development and exploration teams led by VP Exploration Sergio Rivera, and shareholder alignment behind the current dual-track strategy, Marimaca enters the second half of 2026 with two distinct, near-term catalysts: the Pampa Medina maiden resource expected by end-October, and the outcome of the MOD financing process. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/marimaca-copper Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 5 · 20 min
Avino Silver & Gold (TSX:ASM) - Record Quarter Results, Debt-Free, Construction Decision Underway
Interview with David Wolfin, CEO of Avino Silver & Gold Mines Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/avino-silver-gold-tsxasm-record-revenue-powers-three-mine-expansion-strategy-8753 Recording date: 4th September 2026 Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:ASM) enters the second half of 2026 in the strongest financial position in its 57-year history, and that strength is now being deployed toward a decision that could reshape the company's production profile. Q2 2026 revenue reached $26.8 million, up 23% year-on-year, driven by higher realised silver prices at $68.90/oz and increased throughput from La Preciosa development material. Net income of $10.9 million and EBITDA of $12.6 million both grew strongly year-on-year, and the company closed the quarter debt-free with $144.2 million in cash and $140.8 million in working capital. That balance sheet strength underpins the company's most consequential near-term decision: whether to build a standalone processing plant at La Preciosa, its silver development project 19 kilometres from the existing Avino mill. Management estimates a facility comparable to Avino's current 2,500-tonne-per-day mill would cost $200-300 million, roughly half of which the company already holds in cash. A pre-feasibility study now underway with an independent engineering firm is expected within 8-10 months, after which Avino could move directly to a construction decision. The case for going standalone rests on both economics and optionality. Trucking material 19 kilometres at a much larger scale would strain logistics and community relations at the volumes a full La Preciosa operation would require, and CEO David Wolfin has been explicit that a standalone plant is the better use of capital once the study confirms it. Recent drilling supports that confidence: intercepts including 7.9 metres of 1,600 g/t silver and 2 g/t gold, and a further 6 metres at 550 g/t silver, suggest underground mining grades could exceed the diluted, open-pit-based resource model inherited from the project's previous owner, Coeur Mining. Underpinning this is Avino's first mineral reserve in company history, published in April 2026 after the company crossed the $90 million trailing-revenue threshold required under NI 43-101 to report reserves. The combined 127 million silver equivalent ounces in proven and probable reserves, alongside 301 million ounces of measured and indicated resources, gives the growth story a formal technical foundation it lacked a year ago. Average reserve mine life across the portfolio comfortably exceeds the roughly 8-year average among primary silver peers, a comparison management uses to argue for a valuation re-rating as the company de-risks. Risks remain concentrated in execution. Costs rose alongside the cash build, with all-in sustaining costs of $38.75 per silver equivalent ounce in Q2, reflecting the expense of developing a new mine rather than deterioration at Avino itself. Copper production fell 50% year-on-year as the company processed oxidised material from historical open-pit walls, a sequencing decision expected to reverse over the next six to eight months. Investors should also note that much of the grade upside management points to remains in step-out drilling not yet reflected in the reserve model; an updated estimate is expected in Q1 2027. For investors, Avino offers a rare combination: an operating, cash-generating mine funding a second high-grade asset, a debt-free balance sheet providing genuine optionality, and two concrete near-term catalysts: the La Preciosa pre-feasibility study, and the Q1 2027 resource update against which to track execution. View Avino Silver & Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/avino-silver-gold-mines-ltd Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 5 · 33 min
White Gold Corp (TSXV:WGO) - Delivers PEA Alongside Drilling Programme and Spin-Out Catalysts
Interview with Donovan Pollitt, President and Director, White Gold Corp Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/white-gold-tsxvwgo-largest-drill-program-commencing-on-highest-grade-gold-resource-in-yukon-10043 Recording date: 2nd September 2026 White Gold Corp (TSXV:WGO) has crossed a threshold that had eluded it for years: a Preliminary Economic Assessment that puts formal economics around its Yukon flagship deposit. Released August 10, 2026 and refined in an August 28 update, the PEA delivers an after-tax NPV (5%) of C$1.86 billion and a 41% IRR at a US$3,600/oz gold price, with a 1.5-year payback period. At spot-adjacent US$4,500/oz pricing, those figures rise to a C$2.9 billion NPV and 56% IRR. The proposed operation is a conventional open-pit, carbon-in-leach mine processing 12,000 tonnes per day across the Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryan's Surprise and VG zones, producing approximately 188,000 ounces annually over a 9.4-year life at an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,482/oz. Initial capital is costed at C$1,002 million. President and Director Donovan Pollitt was explicit that the study was built conservatively: a first-year production rate derated to 85% of nameplate, full costing of infrastructure most PEAs might trim (a new 5,000-foot airstrip, complete camp and tailings facilities), and a mine plan that uses only around 60% of the current 3 million-ounce resource. Notably, underground potential at Golden Saddle where drilling continues to target higher-grade mineralisation below the current pit design was excluded from the study altogether, representing upside not yet reflected in the headline numbers. Beyond the PEA, two lower-cost avenues to resource growth are underway in parallel with continued step-out drilling: a systematic resampling of roughly 7,350 metres of historic core (about 12% of all metres drilled on the property since 2008) that was never assayed, concentrated in a hanging-wall zone now interpreted as continuously mineralised, and a new target, Golden Saddle 2.0, on the far side of a fault offset from the main deposit. The 2026 drilling programme totals 15,000-20,000 metres, with over 10,000 metres completed at the time of the interview and 11,500 metres confirmed in a subsequent company update; assay results are expected through the autumn as regional lab capacity, strained by a busy Yukon drill season, catches up. A second and distinct value lever sits outside the gold story: White Gold's non-gold critical mineral targets - copper, tungsten, silver and molybdenum anomalies identified through years of soil geochemistry but never drilled - are being spun into a separately listed vehicle, W2 Critical Minerals Corp, at a ratio of one W2 share per five WGO shares held. The Ontario Superior Court granted final approval for the arrangement on August 28, 2026, with W2's associated financing upsized from $5 million to $10 million to fund a maiden drill programme. Valuation-wise, White Gold trades at approximately US$116 per contained ounce as of early August 2026 company filings - the lowest in its Yukon peer group despite carrying that group's highest weighted-average grade (1.38 g/T). Management has signalled no rush toward a production decision or an accelerated pre-feasibility study, prioritising further drilling and optionality on mine-plan design over speed. For investors, the near-term catalyst calendar includes autumn assay results, progress at Golden Saddle 2.0 and the VG East extension, and the pending completion of the W2 spin-out. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/white-gold-corp Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 4 · 35 min
Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU) - Fully Funded Drilling Targets 269Mlb Uranium Upside in Western Australia
Interview with Jonathan Fisher, CEO of Cauldron Energy Recording date: 2nd September 2026 Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU) holds 55 million pounds of JORC-compliant uranium resource at its Yanrey Project in Western Australia, with an exploration target of up to 269 million additional pounds. The company’s near-perfect drilling record and strategic positioning make it a compelling uranium story—provided Western Australia lifts its longstanding mining ban. The Yanrey Project spans three deposits: Bennett Well, Manyingee South, and Manyingee North are all situated in a region considered highly prospective for in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mining. Cauldron’s exploration has been remarkably successful wherein the first 24 drill holes at Manyingee North intersected mineralisation, defining a maiden 10-million-pound resource with a 100% hit rate. Subsequent drilling of 40 to 50 additional holes has maintained that near-perfect success rate. The company uses passive seismic surveying to identify buried palaeochannels, ancient river systems, that concentrated uranium as they flowed eastward from granitic sources. Three channels have been drilled to date, yielding the three known deposits, with 20-30 more channels still untested. A formal resource update is expected later in 2026 following the completion of the current drilling campaign. Western Australia’s state-level uranium mining ban remains the single biggest obstacle to production. Despite this, Cauldron received two government exploration grants in April 2026, a signal CEO Jonathan Fisher interprets as contradictory but encouraging. Additional indicators of potential policy shift include a parliamentary inquiry where over 60% of submissions favoured uranium mining, and a recent by-election swing toward the pro-uranium One Nation party. While the ban persists, Cauldron is maximising its resource base to become either a ready-to-develop asset or an attractive takeover target once policy changes. The company has partnered with Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company to de-risk ISR process design and hired an experienced environmental manager to navigate regulatory approvals. Groundwater testing by ANSTO found low salinity across all three deposits—a favourable factor for ISR recovery economics. Cauldron’s investment case hinges entirely on Western Australia lifting its mining ban. While management cites multiple signals of policy change, none are confirmed. Technical risks remain, as demonstrated by peer Boss Energy’s setbacks at its Honeymoon ISR operation, though Cauldron’s Navoi partnership aims to mitigate such risks. Shareholder concentration is high, with a family office holding ~30% and ETFs ~15–16%, providing stability but limiting free float. View Cauldron Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/cauldron-energy-limited Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 4 · 36 min
East Star Resources (LSE:EST) - Secures 2nd Copper JV Agreement with Rulikha Project in Kazakhstan
Interview with Alex Walker, CEO of East Star Resources Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/east-star-resources-lseest-partner-funded-copper-production-and-25m-gold-search-in-kazakhstan-10606 Recording date: 2nd September 2026 East Star Resources (LSE:EST) has added a second free-carried development structure to its Kazakhstan copper and gold portfolio, signing a binding Heads of Agreement for a joint venture over its Rulikha copper project. The deal follows the same non-dilutive logic that underpins East Star's existing Verkhuba joint venture with Chinese mine-builder Xinhai Mining: rather than raising capital from shareholders to fund permitting, drilling and construction, East Star brings in a partner with deeper development expertise and lets that partner carry the cost, in exchange for a minority economic interest once the project reaches production. At Rulikha, that partner group consists of two entities: Nova, a financing vehicle, and Orion, an operating team that has previously built two copper mines in Kazakhstan and exited its most recent project to a Chinese buyer for approximately $125 million within the past four years. CEO Alex Walker cited that track record, along with the personal involvement of a well-connected Kazakh lawyer who structured the deal, as central to his confidence in the partnership. The earn-in mechanics are designed to protect East Star's downside. The partners' initial percentage only crystallises once they complete the first of either 3,000 metres of drilling or $1.5 million of spend, and even that threshold represents only a fraction of the total committed spend, not a cap. East Star's final economic interest lands between 25% and 35% depending on whether the partners fund with equity or debt and importantly, majority ownership does not pass to the partners until they reach the construction stage, well beyond the current commitment. Operationally, drilling approval for Rulikha is already secured, land access was obtained before the joint venture was even discussed, and management expects drilling to begin in the third or fourth quarter of 2026, targeting both the main Rulikha deposit areas and two satellite targets, Taloskoy and Rulikha North, the latter having already returned a 120-metre interval of disseminated sulphide mineralisation last year. Meanwhile, at the more advanced Verkhuba copper deposit, drilling continues under the existing Xinhai-funded joint venture, with a second rig now on site and the first assay results due at the lab within one to two weeks. East Star's separate gold exploration joint venture with Endeavour Mining, covering two large land packages in northern and central Kazakhstan under a $25 million funding commitment, remains unchanged and continues to offer a third free-carried catalyst. For investors, the Rulikha announcement effectively doubles East Star's exposure to potential copper production funded entirely by third parties, without adding dilution risk. The near-term catalysts to watch are execution of the definitive Rulikha joint venture agreement (currently only a Heads of Agreement), the start of Rulikha drilling later this year, and Verkhuba's forthcoming assay results, which together will begin to clarify the pace at which East Star's project pipeline converts into cash flow. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/east-star-resources Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
September 3 · 48 min
Erdene Resource Development (TSX:ERD) - Bayan Khundii Cash Flow Funds Deep Porphyry Hunt
Interview with Peter Akerley, CEO & Kelly Clure, Advisor of Erdene Resource Development Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/erdene-resource-developments-tsxerd-undervalued-investment-series-with-peter-akerley-10566 Recording date: 1st September 2026 Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN; OTCQX:ERDCF) has moved from mine-builder to self-funded explorer. The company's Bayan Khundii Gold Mine, operated as a 50/50 joint venture with Mongolian Mining Corporation, delivered 11,709 ounces of gold in Q2 2026, a 37% increase quarter-on-quarter, generating $53 million in gross revenue. Feed grade rose 25% to 2.4 g/t gold, with recoveries of 96%, ahead of plan. That cash flow is now being redeployed into a materially more aggressive exploration program across the company's broader Khundii Minerals District, discovered by Erdene in Mongolia's southwest. Management has committed 12,000 metres of drilling to Bayan Khundii's western expansion, targeting the corridor between the current pit and the newly resource-defined Ulaan deposit. In parallel, the company is testing porphyry copper potential beneath all three of its main hydrothermal systems, Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and Zuun Mod, none of which has been drill-tested below roughly 700 metres, despite kilometre-scale surface alteration footprints comparable to major regional discoveries like Oyu Tolgoi. Zuun Mod, a wholly-owned molybdenum-copper porphyry, is the standout near-term catalyst: the deposit ranks in the upper 15th percentile globally on grade-tonnage terms, and a preliminary economic assessment is on track for mid-H2 2026, backed by a newly contracted deep geophysics (IP/MT) program aimed at both Zuun Mod itself and the adjacent Khuvyn Khar copper target. Altan Nar, holding roughly 500,000 ounces of gold along a 5-kilometre trend, is next in line for 2027 capital, with management weighing a CIP tie-in to the existing Bayan Khundii plant against a standalone flotation-concentrate build. Early metallurgical work favours the CIP route, potentially adding five years of mine life for a fraction of the estimated $140 million standalone capex. A complementary heap leach study, covering oxide material at both Dark Horse and Altan Nar, could add a further ~100,000 ounces of lower-cost production. A smaller, earlier-stage option property, Tereg Uul, sits roughly 10km south of Oyu Tolgoi; a maiden drill program confirmed anomalous gold, silver and native copper along a 1.5-kilometre structure, and the option was extended in July 2026 with a $400,000 payment. Underpinning the exploration push is a policy tailwind: Mongolia's mining ministry announced in June 2026 that it would reopen exploration licensing after roughly a decade of restricted issuance, a development management believes favours first movers with existing geological databases, including Erdene. Financially, the company holds $26 million in corporate cash earmarked for its wholly-owned project pipeline through 2027, and is running an active share buyback (up to 4.9 million shares, ~10% of public float, with 94,400 shares already repurchased at an average $5.21). Key near-term catalysts for investors to track include the Zuun Mod PEA, deep geophysics results expected later in Q3 2026, and progress on Mongolia's licensing reopening. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/erdene-resource-development Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

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